Deciding how to buy my first investment property

[Ian Barrett]

Hello all, I am looking to buy my first property and would appreciate hearing advice from someone with more experience than me. I am relatively new to real estate but am no longer interested in standing on the sidelines. 

I am currently renting an apartment and have decided to purchase a home within six months after my lease expires. Initially, I wanted to start my real estate investing journey by purchasing a multi-family property and building up; after beginning to read 'Building Wealth One House at a Time,' I'm contemplating if it's better to start my investing journey by purchasing a SFH and scaling my portfolio from there. Should I go through conventional financing, I have about $40k saved to cover the down payment(s) + closing costs. I've also just learned about owner financing & "subject-to" financing and would be interested in using this method for purchasing future rental properties for my portfolio.

My question is: Would it be better to purchase a home to live in to eventually put tenants in & turn it into an investment property? Or would it be better for me to buy a property for myself, then turn my focus to finding properties that are strictly going to be tenant-occupied investment properties?

Thank you in advance for your advice, outlooks, and responses!